I am pleased to announce that Robert Anthony Sharp will become the 11th Dean of the University of Notre Dame Law School on April 27, 2010 and has agreed to serve in that important and August position until April 28, 2010. During Dean Sharp’s short – but surely memorable – deanship, I will return to the faculty to concentrate on my research.

The Due Process of Law Foundation (DPLF) and the Center for Civil and Human Rights (CCHR) at the University of Notre Dame, with the generous support of the United States Institute for Peace (USIP), joined together to create a publication that compiled and commented on these important judgments from 15 different countries in Latin America.

Only a select few enter the hallowed chambers of the Supreme Court of the United States to clerk for a justice. Notre Dame Law School alumna Tara Stuckey made the cut, and begins work for Justice Samuel Alito in July.

Environmental laws don’t always impact the environment in expected ways and, in other cases, laws seemingly unrelated to the environment have a tremendous impact on our habitats. Notre Dame’s John N. Matthews Professor of Law John Nagle explains this phenomenon in his new book, “Law’s Environment: How the Law Shapes the Places We Live (Yale University Press, 2010).

Notre Dame Associate Professor of Law Paolo Carozza will spend the spring 2011 semester in Italy as a Fulbright scholar, working from the University of Florence on a book about the jurisprudence of the Italian Constitutional Court.

For the second year in a row, a Notre Dame Law School alum will clerk for a justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. An impressive number of NDLS alums have achieved the coveted and prestigious SCOTUS clerkship post—six over the past ten years.

Takeshi Nobuhiro is one of 30 judges chosen by the Supreme Court of Japan to study law and judicial system in a foreign country for a year as part of the Overseas Training and Research Program. “I have attended classes here, and have observed hearings and trials at the courthouse in South Bend,” says Nobuhiro.

Notre Dame Professor of Law Joseph Bauer spent three weeks at the University of Hong Kong (HKU) this spring teaching antitrust law—referred to as competition law in China—and intellectual property law to a group of LL.M. students at the University.

The American College of Bankruptcy selected 3L Ryan Dattilo as the 7th Circuit’s 2010 Distinguished Bankruptcy Law Student. Along with four distinguished students from other judicial circuits, Dattilo was an honoree of the College at its annual meeting in Washington, D.C.

We are excited to have the opportunity to host this year’s reunion classes in the beautiful Eck Hall of Law and the newly expanded and renovated Biolchini Hall during Reunion 2010 this spring! The weekend is sure to be one to remember.

Notre Dame Law School’s International Law Society presents its first annual symposium titled “Reflections on a Global Crisis: Current Issues in International Law and Economics” on Friday, April 9 at 1:00 p.m. in Eck Hall of Law.

Notre Dame Professor of Law Douglass Cassel’s amicus brief in the U.S. Supreme Court case Samantar v. Yousuf argues that a former Somali leader living in Virginia is not immune to civil lawsuits alleging torture under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (FSIA).

The Chronicle of Philanthropy recently published an op-ed by Notre Dame Associate Professor of Law Lloyd Hitoshi Mayer (along with attorney Brendan M. Wilson) about the need for more effective governmental oversight of charitable organizations.

On March 25, Mary Ellen O’Connell will begin a two-year term as Vice President of the American Society of International Law. The American Society of International Law (ASIL) is the leading organization for the promotion and study of international law in the world.

As President Obama considers a recommendation to reverse the decision to prosecute Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the self-proclaimed mastermind of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, in a civilian court and instead try him in a military tribunal, legal questions from both parties continue to cloud the issue.

Unique in size and scope, Notre Dame Law School’s Summer Stipend Program allows more than 100 students each year to pursue legal work with a public service component, providing them with valuable skills, contacts, and experience.